| name | gr-backlinks |
| description | Systematic backlink building for indie founders. Covers 5 channel types ranked by GEO + SEO ROI: Wikipedia (entities), authoritative media (PR), industry reviews (G2/Capterra/Product Hunt), Reddit/Quora discussions, and HARO/Featured.com expert quotes. Designed for 0→1 sites where domain authority is the bottleneck. Aligns with 2026 Google/Bing GEO guidance: backlinks are the strongest brand-authority signal AI search engines use to decide citations. Defaults to dev/B2B link sources; for 2C products (education, consumer apps) authority links differ — see gingiris-seo-geo/references/2c-adaptation.md.
|
| metadata | {"author":"Iris / Gingiris","version":"0.1.0","phase":"Phase 2 main line 4 (added 2026-05-07)"} |
| source | https://github.com/Gingiris-1031/gingiris-skills/tree/main/skills/gr-backlinks |
| tags | ["backlinks","link-building","seo","off-page-seo","domain-authority","featured-com","haro-alternative","digital-pr","content-marketing","saas-seo","claude-code","ai-agent-skill","agent-skill","latest"] |
⚠️ 2C 产品的外链调整
本 skill 的 5 类渠道（Wikipedia / 媒体 PR / G2 评测 / Reddit-Quora / HARO）偏 dev/B2B。2C 消费品 / 教育 的权威链接来源不同：
- 教育：学校 / 留学机构 / 考试论坛 / 教育媒体 > 普通付费外链。
- 通用 2C：行业垂直媒体、地区 KOL、社区高赞帖。
- G2 / Capterra（B2B 软件评测站）对 2C 基本无效 → 换 App Store 评分 + 垂类榜单 + 应用媒体测评。
- YMYL 品类：权威机构背书的链接权重远高于数量；切勿买链/造评（Google 数天内识别）。
完整 2C 渠道数据库 + 公开来源见 → gingiris-seo-geo/references/2c-adaptation.md
gr-backlinks — Systematic Backlink Building
Why this skill exists
Phase 2 missing piece: We do title/content/schema/cluster optimization but have zero systematic backlink work. Article research (2026-05): backlinks are the #1 GEO signal — LLMs decide citations partly by brand authority, which is downstream of backlink graph.
Iris now runs two independent domains: gingiris.tools (content/blog, Vercel) and analook.com (product). Both are young domains with near-zero backlink profiles — gingiris.tools restarted from scratch after the 2026-05-27 migration off the banned GitHub Pages account (old github.io link equity is permanently lost, unrecoverable), and analook.com's only inbound links so far are low-DA directory submissions. On-page work alone cannot beat Wikipedia / Hootsuite / Wired for head terms on either domain — only backlink quality + count can. The upside of independent domains: every earned link now accrues to an asset we control, not to a github.io subpath.
Before planning any backlink work, read data/backlinks-status.md first — it records what's already been spent/submitted (directory batches, refunds, pending claims) so we don't re-buy or re-submit.
The 5-Channel Priority Matrix
Adopted from 2026-05 WeChat article + JeffLi1993 / AgriciDaniel / zubair-trabzada skills audit:
| Channel | SEO Value | GEO Value | Priority | Effort/week |
|---|
| Wikipedia dedicated entry | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | MAX | 3-6h (one-time setup, ongoing edits) |
| Authoritative media (PR) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | MAX | 2h (HARO + outreach) |
| Industry reviews (G2/Capterra/PH) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | HIGH | 1h (one-time submission) |
| Reddit/Quora discussions | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | HIGH | 2h (sustained presence) |
| Generic backlinks (directories/blogs) | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | MED | skip until top 3 done |
Rule: Start from highest GEO value. SEO-only signals (DA passing) are less leveraged than 2-3 years ago.
When to use this skill
- "I want to build backlinks for my site"
- "How do I get into Wikipedia?"
- "How do I do HARO / Featured.com?"
- "What's a Reddit / Quora strategy that doesn't get me banned?"
- "How do I get into G2 / Capterra?"
- Phase 2 monthly checkpoint shows domain authority capping ranking
Channel 1: Wikipedia (highest GEO leverage)
Reality check before you start
- Wikipedia is notability-gated, not effort-gated
- Threshold: 5+ independent reliable-source articles discussing your subject substantively (not in passing)
- Listicle mentions, PR releases, sponsored content do NOT count
- Paid Wikipedia services (Fiverr / WikiExperts / Wiki Mavericks): 80% of articles deleted within 6 months — they fail notability not because of editor skill
Correct sequence
-
Build the case file first (4-12 weeks)
- Earn 5+ independent press articles via Channels 2 + 3 below
- Document them in a
data/wikipedia-prep/ folder
- Format:
{publication, date, url, key_quote, indepth_or_passing}
-
Wikidata first, Wikipedia second
- Create a Wikidata entity (much lower notability bar) → builds a structured record AI crawlers find
- LLMs heavily weight Wikidata for entity recognition
-
Use Articles for Creation (AfC)
-
Hire a real editor (optional)
- Search Upwork for "Wikipedia editor 1000+ edits 5+ years"
- Rate: $80-200/hr
- Must disclose payment per WP:PAID — non-negotiable
- Avoid agencies charging fixed $2k+ for "guaranteed" articles (banned by 2026 standards)
Checklist before submission
Channel 2: PR / Authoritative Media
Two paths to backlinks
Path A: Inbound — HARO / Featured.com / Connectively / Qwoted
Journalists request expert quotes daily. Reply with concise, citable answers → published article with backlink.
⚠️ Step 0 — 渠道存活验证（先做，再排周任务）：HARO 品牌 2024-25 经历多轮重组（Connectively 一度关停后 2025-04 重开；HARO 品牌 2025-05 被 Featured.com 收购），"HARO" 老地址/老流程随时可能失效。排任何周任务前，先逐个验证：平台还活着吗？能注册吗？注册后真的收到 query 邮件了吗？ 教训：2026-05-26 审计发现周提醒任务空跑数周——0 个订阅存在，funnel 是空的（memory project_haro_backlinks.md）。当前状态见 data/backlinks-status.md。
- Connectively: connectively.us — 2025-04 重开，AI-spam 较多但可用（Iris expert profile 已建）
- Qwoted: qwoted.com — verification-based，质量最高（Iris source profile 已建）
- Featured.com: featured.com — 2025-05 收购 HARO 品牌，量最大（可选补充）
- 免费补充：Source of Sources (sourceofsources.com) / Help a B2B Writer
验证通过且 query 邮件真的进 inbox 之后，才把该平台排进 weekly cadence。
Reply template (works ~15-25% of the time):
Hi [Journalist],
I'm Iris Wei, ex-COO of AFFiNE (60k+ GitHub stars). For your question
about [topic], here's a 3-sentence answer with concrete data:
[ANSWER: lead with a number, give the mechanism, end with a takeaway.
50-100 words. Cite a specific personal experience, not generic advice.]
If you need a longer quote or follow-up, happy to share more.
— Iris
Site: https://gingiris.tools
Twitter: @WeiYipei
[Disclosure: I run gingiris.tools — no expectation of a link, just a useful quote.]
Pace: 3-5 responses/week. Time/response: 8-12 min. Expected: 1-2 links/month.
Path B: Outbound — Targeted journalist outreach
For deep-dive features, not 1-line quotes.
- Identify 10 journalists who cover your niche (use Twitter / Muck Rack)
- Build 3-week warm-up (read + comment on their posts, no DM yet)
- Pitch a specific story angle (not "want to feature my product")
- Offer exclusive data, customer interview, or unique angle
Best pitch types for Iris:
- "I led AFFiNE from 0 → 60k GitHub stars. Here's the playbook." (TechCrunch / The Information)
- "Why most OSS marketing playbooks are wrong" (Wired / The Verge)
- "Real data: 30 Product Hunt #1 launches in 4 years" (Fast Company / Forbes)
Channel 3: Industry Reviews (G2 / Capterra / Product Hunt / SourceForge)
One-time submissions (high ROI for any SaaS / open source)
| Platform | URL | What to submit | Backlink type |
|---|
| G2 | g2.com/products/new | Product + features | Profile + reviews |
| Capterra | capterra.com/vendors/sign-up | Product + pricing | Profile + reviews |
| Product Hunt | producthunt.com/posts/new | Each major version | Listing |
| SourceForge | sourceforge.net/projects/add | Open source only | Project page |
| AlternativeTo | alternativeto.net | Free | Profile + alt-listing |
| StackShare | stackshare.io | Tech stack | Profile |
Once submitted, ask early users for genuine reviews (5-10 reviews unlocks featured placement on most platforms).
Channel 4: Reddit / Quora / Hacker News
Anti-pattern (gets you banned)
- Drop your URL in a top-level post
- Generic "check out my tool" comments
- Multiple accounts (sockpuppeting)
What actually works (builds trust + backlinks naturally)
Reddit:
- Build account karma to 500+ over 4-8 weeks (comment in non-promotional subs first)
- Find 5-7 subreddits where your audience hangs out
- Answer questions deeply with real experience — link to your blog only if it directly answers (1 in 10 responses)
- Once respected: AMA in r/SaaS, r/Entrepreneur, r/IndieHackers, r/OpenSource
Quora:
- Pick 3 topics where you can speak with authority
- Answer specific questions, not topic-wide overviews
- Each answer: 200-500 words + 1 personal anecdote
- Link to blog only when blog has the deeper version of your answer
Hacker News:
- Build karma to 50+ before posting
- Show HN: best slot Tuesday 9am ET (see existing
/gr-oss-marketing for details)
- Engage with every comment in first 6 hours
Why this matters for GEO
LLMs heavily weight Reddit / Quora content during training:
- ChatGPT cites Reddit ~12% of its responses (2026 Q1 audit)
- Perplexity grounds 18% of answers in Reddit/Quora
- Claude weights Quora answers for "how to" queries
Channel 5: Generic Backlinks (skip until Channels 1-4 maxed)
Directories, guest posts on low-DA sites, blogger network exchanges. Low GEO value in 2026.
Don't waste time here until Channels 1-4 are mature.
Workflow: First 30 days for Iris
前置读入：data/backlinks-status.md（已花的钱、已铺的目录、待领的资产——避免重复购买/提交）。
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4 + Monthly retro
Months 2-3
Scripts
scripts/backlinks-audit.py (Tier 0 — free, no API)
Uses Common Crawl + verification crawler to get baseline:
- Inbound link count from common crawl
- Verify each known link (HTTP 200 + still links to us)
- Domain-level metrics: in-degree, PageRank approximation, harmonic centrality
Run monthly to track growth.
scripts/haro-helper.py (planned)
- Parse incoming HARO emails
- Auto-suggest which to respond to (based on Iris credentials)
- Draft 3-sentence answer skeletons
Tracking
Maintain data/backlinks.jsonl (one line per backlink):
{"date":"2026-05-15","from":"techcrunch.com","to":"gingiris.tools","anchor":"AFFiNE","channel":"PR","tier":1,"context":"60k stars article"}
Use this for:
- Monthly retro (Channel mix vs target)
- Phase 2 checkpoint (correlate backlink growth with SERP rank changes)
- Wikipedia case file building
Anti-patterns (avoid)
- ❌ Paid agency Wikipedia services — sockpuppet farms, articles deleted
- ❌ Reddit coordinated fake accounts — gets you banned permanently
- ❌ Generic HARO replies — quote rate <2% without specific credentials
- ❌ Buying links — Google's algorithm now flags within days
- ❌ Asking friends to write inauthentic reviews on G2 — flagged + removed
- ❌ Guest posting on link farms — negative SEO
Cascade recommendations
- Channel 2 PR success →
gr-blog-post reference that media article in our content (build social proof)
- Channel 4 Reddit AMA → schedule via
gr-oss-marketing
- Wikipedia entity created → update
gr-geo-cite to track Wikipedia citations in AI responses (highest-priority test)
- Backlinks accumulated → re-run
gr-seo-patrol to measure rank impact
API dependencies
| Service | Env var | Tier | Cost |
|---|
| Common Crawl (CDX index) | none | 0 (always) | Free |
| Moz API | MOZ_TOKEN | 1 (optional) | $99/mo |
| Bing Webmaster API | OAuth | 2 (optional) | Free with verified site |
| DataForSEO Backlinks | DATAFORSEO_B64 (existing) | 3 (you have) | Pay per query |
Start at Tier 0 + Tier 3 (DataForSEO already configured for gr-seo-patrol).
